Process of treating wood for use in secondary batteries.



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UNITE STATS ATENT @Fhlfi.

PASCAL MAKING, or Lennon, ENGLAND.

PROCESS OF TREATING WOOD FOR USE IN SECONDARY BATTERIES.

' T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PASCAL MARINO, a

subject of the King of Italy, residing at London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Wood for Use in Secondary'Bat-teries, of which the follou' ing is a specification;

This invention relates to a. new and useful process of treating wood for use in secondary or storage batteries, and it. consists in bringing the Wood into such a condition thatit is freed 'from the "extracti and fermentable substances and the solublWlp ctsot distillation, and is rendered poroustothe electrolyte, and the gases given off by the electrolysis of the water.

In carrying out my invention, I- employ thin veneers orthin sheets of wood, prefer ably White wood of a non-resinousnature. Natural Wood, without having undergone any suitable chemical treatment to purify 1t,

offers too great a resistance to the electric.

current and paralyses the electro-chemical working to the great detriment of its ell! ciency. For the purpose therefore of remov ing the impurities from the wood, so. as to be ableto advantageously utilize it in a secondary or storage battery. it is necessary to rid it successively from: 1. its fermentable extractive parts. and from the soluble products of distillation. and 2. the vasculose or incrustingr matter. To remove these impurities. I first dissolve the fcrmentable extracts and soluble products of distillation by steaming the wood. and then get rid of the vasculose by means ot a special oxidizer.

First treatmcm'f'lhe wood sheets or boards after having been cut in the form and to the sizes suitable to constitute the separators ot' the electrodes. and. it necessary. provided on their surfaces with suitably spaced iillets or ribs. are th n introduced into a closed vessel and subjected to the action of steam at a temperature oi about-l20 C. tor about 15 minutes. The steam drives out the air and the gases-in the liquefied vegetable tissue and removes from the wood those substances whi h form the base of the extracts susceptible to fermcntationeasalso all the elements of the products of distillation soluble in superheated steam, such as pyroligncous acid Experiments have shown: (0.) That the fiermentable extracts give rise either to an element which is the cause of deterioration I of the wood in the acid electrolyte, or to an Specification of Letters Patent.

(acetic acidl,

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

Application .filed February 23, 1909., Serial No. 479,649.

organic element which is the cause of reduction of the peroxid of lead on the positive electrodes. (3).) That acetic acid, in however small a quantity it may be present in each Wooden separator, combines with the lead, and with the oxids of lead constituting the element, and produces acetate of lead which, in the presence of the sulfuric acid of the electrolyte, is converted into sulphate of lead. This sulphate adheres to the surfaces of the Wooden separators and cannot be reduced into lead, nor peroxidized, owing to the Wood being a non-conducting sub: stance for the electric current; consequently,

the porosity and permeability of the sepa-' rators is diminished, the internal resistance of the accumulator increased appreciably,

the phenomena of clitfusion of the electrolyte meets with difficulties and obstacles, and a continuous and fresh supply of-the electrolyte in intimate contact with the active 1naterial is hindered and made-diilicult. The

superheated steam dissolves out a, quantity 111,! matter which thickens these walls, Without mentioning pectic substances which form a '"sort oi inter-cellular cement, and are found. to some extent, in Wood, but in larger proportions textile fibers.

' lhe chie't' characteristic stance, is that the cellulose is dissolved by the ammoniacai solution of mud of copper. (Schweitzer liquor), While the vasculose is the vasculose or. in other words, the incrust- I which distinguishes the cellulose and the vasculose subin no way attackerlby this reagent. (in the other hand. all the oxidizers, hydrogen per oxid. ozone, nitric, chromic, and chloric acids. hypochlorites, permanganate of potassium, sulturous acid, thesulfites, etcl, oxidize the vasculosc by forming With it resinous acids which are soluble. in the alkalis and in alcohol.

The neutralv solvents do not-afi'ect the vasculose. lo the present process. of all the the wood by oxidation in the form of soluble resinous acids, I prefer to employ hydrogen peroxid only. The reason for the restriction to hydrogen peroxid only is, that owing to the porous and absorbent qualities of the wood it would afterward he very diflicult to completely expel and eliminate all traces of any of the oxidizers, such as nitric acid, chloric acid, chlorir hypochlorites, etc, and if any trace of an, of these oxidizers was left in the Wooden separators, it would have a most deleterious efiect upon the Working of the accumulator, and this the more so as the wooden separators go to form a ery large portion of the elements of which my accumulator is constituted. This is, how-4 ever, not the case with theharmless oxidizer which I have chosen, and that is Why 1 particularly specify and employ it, namely,-

hydrogen peroXid only.

In order to ettect the oxidation oi": the vasculose the separators are immersed in a bath of pure water to which has been added 20% of hydrogen peroxid. The separators are turned over so as to renew the surfaces of contact and sh insure all parts of the separators heing equally treated by the oxidizing liquid. At o end of about 3 hours the separators are withdrawn from the solution of hydrogen peroxid and then left impregnated therewith, for about 4 hours at the ordinary temperature. l l hile thus exposed to the air, the following chemical'reaction takes place, viz: The hydrogen peroxid decomposes and gradually gives up its oxygen to the vasculose, thus producing resinous acids. At the end of the 4 hours or thereahout, all the wood separators are again introduced into the vessel to he suhroaaees jected, for say ten minutes, to steam at a temperature of about C. They are then washed in strong ammoniacal cold water as to dissolve out the solutions of the resinous acids formed in the said wood separaters and are then washed in. clean water and dried (preferably by passing air, under pressure, through them) to prevent them cracking or splitting.

The oxidizers should. not he in. a concentrated and hot condition, as this would (163-. stroy the cellulose and deprii the separators of the ligneous cellulose walls which protect them. "i the vasculose It is not essential rat be entirely removed from the solid tissue of the wood, as the Wood is already suit? liciently purified and po -1-allowthe tree passage of the electric an l, the escape of the and the ditlusio ectrolyte.

Having now dr rihed my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

The method of rer. for use as a separator in so the same consistine" in the form of thin 51 a steam under pressure to it from acetic acid then treati'z with hydrogen. pcronid solution, to oxidize the vasculose finally wood suitable the wood in. more. first with extracting the oxidized products from the wood.

lln witness whereof signed my name in the 1 scribing Witnesses.

hereunto two sul llftelCi ili liillliittl'l lt).

Witnesses H. D. learn-son, F. L. RAND.

id a ry batteries, 

